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3 June 2003

ISS On-Orbit Status 31 May 2003

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except as noted
previously or below.

After breakfast (2:40 am EDT), Yuri Malenchenko and Edward Lu worked
their way through the regular weekly housecleaning, with three hours
set aside for the "uborka".  [Running under the heading of
Bioenvironmental Surveillance, the extensive cleanup, nominally every
Saturday, focuses on removal of food waste products, periodic
cleaning of compartments with vacuum cleaner, and wet cleaning of
surfaces.] 

FE/SO Lu completed the weekly transfer of accumulated data files from
the CMS HRM (crew medical systems/heart rate monitor) to the MEC,
then deleted them on the HRM.  [Last time done: 5/23/03.]

Afterwards, Ed transferred storage files with exercise data from the
TVIS and RED exercise equipment to the MEC via PCMCIA cards (personal
computer memory card international association) for subsequent
downlink to Earth. 

Malenchenko conducted the daily routine maintenance of the SM's SOZh
life support system (including ASU toilet facilities), while Ed Lu
prepared the daily IMS inventory "delta" file.

The crew conducted the weekly planning conference with the ground,
discussing next week's "Look-Ahead Plan" (regularly prepared jointly
by MCC-H and MCC-M planners), via S-band/audio.

The planning conference was followed by the weekly ISS crew tag-up
with Program management, also via S-band.

As an optional task for today, on the "job jar" task list and
hard-scheduled for Monday, the crew had another Increment 7 audit,
containing three separate assignments.  [The audit focuses on counts
of (a) selected office supplies plus any crew requests for additional
office supplies, (b) contingency trash bags, and (c) utensil rinse
wipes and disinfectant wipes; each count taking approx. 30 min.  Data
collected in these counts are needed soon for Progress manifesting
decisions.] 

Another run with the Diatomeya-2 ocean observation program was placed
on Yuri Malenchenko's task list for his disposition, today focusing
on locating and checking out the Rubinar equipment, and testing the
Diatomeya-2 experiment results processing program.  [The Rubinar
instrument is a binocular telescopic device, with ancillary
electronics, to be installed at a Service Module window.  It can be
used in support of both the Diatomeya and the Uragan research
programs.]

After yesterday's major maintenance work on the TVIS treadmill,
ground specialists are going over the details of the R&Rs (removal
and replacements) made by the crew.  [Ed Lu was asked for a
description of the damaged TVIS harness and the modifications he
made.  Should the harness have lost all functionality, there is one
spare harness onboard.  The crew was also given the Go to stow the
old transfer case (gear box) and flywheel case in Node or Lab at
their choice, then update the IMS accordingly.]   MCC-H is working
several flight attitude and onboard power options for the 11P
docking on 6/11 (Wednesday).  [Depending on the time of U.S. solar
array feathering prior to the docking (to protect the photovoltaic
cells against surface contamination from thruster plumes), P6 channel
2B and 4B storage batteries will be more or less discharged for
powering needed station systems.  If the first docking attempt in
automated Kurs mode fails, contingency dockings (in Kurs or manual
TORU mode) represent additional cases to be analyzed.]

Yesterday's as-planned collision avoidance burn by Progress (12:50pm
EDT) yielded 0.99 m/s delta-V (prelim. measurement by U.S. space
acceleration measurement system SAMS) and resulted in 1.7 km (1.06
mi.) altitude increase.  Almost all of the props left in the 10P
refueling tanks were used, except for about 0.5 m/s worth of usable
residuals. 

The current geomagnetic storms, due to large coronal mass ejection
(CME) events from multiple solar flares, are the strongest since
October 2002. They are causing spectacular auroras over the southern
hemisphere.  A list of Aurora Australis opportunities over the next
three days (5/31-6/2) was uplinked for the crew.   [Times listed were
for ~45 deg south latitude for each orbit, which gives a 6-minute
window for night-time views, looking right of track (south) before
sun-up]   Today's optional CEO targets, limited in the current XPOP
attitude by flight rule constraints on the use of the Lab
nadir/science window, also excluding any night target viewing, were
Congo-Zimbabwe Biomass Burning (looking left and right of track for
evidence of early burning in the thick savanna forests south of the
Congo rainforest), La Paz, Bolivia (nadir opportunity), Cloud
vortices, Canary Islands (Dynamic event. Von Karman vortices being
shed south off the islands.  Looking left of track.  Then ~3 min
later looking left for sunglint on W Mediterranean for evidence of
arcuate internal waves propagating through the Strait of Gibraltar
into the Mediterranean), Western Mediterranean Aerosols (looking left
for industrial haze over the sea near the Rhone valley of southern
France and in the Po valley of northern Italy [and the Adriatic into
which this haze drains]), Western Europe clear (Dynamic event.  From
the coast of Brittany to sunset over Poland, skies had cleared,
giving first opportunities for daylight-awake photography in many
weeks.  Panoramas north of track suggested over northern France
looking towards England, and then towards Denmark and the Baltic
Sea). CEO images can be viewed at the websites
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov

ISS Orbit  (as of this morning, 5:21am EDT [= epoch]):

Mean altitude -- 390.1 km
Apogee -- 394.6 km
Perigee -- 385.6 km
Period -- 92.36 min.
Inclination (to Equator) --  51.63 deg
Eccentricity -- 0.0006695
Orbits per 24-hr. day -- 15.59
Mean altitude gain in last 24 hours -- 1400 m
Revolutions since FGB/Zarya launch (Nov. '98)  -- 25838
For more on ISS orbit and worldwide naked-eye visibility dates/times,
see  http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html

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